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Another "Bad Day" Story


Ndawg12

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I was pretty depressed/discouraged yesterday and still a little today, so I figured I would vent here.

Yesterday we (my wife, my son, another couple and their 2 young kids) went out on the lake for the afternoon. We had a good time boarding and stuff for an hour or so in a cove just around the corner from the ramp. We decided to travel the main channel up to a restaurant for lunch. As we were cruising along (12-15 mph) a large ocean cruiser (at least 40') goes by about 30 feet from us on port side kicking up a huge wake. I had just enough time to turn 45 degrees into it but not enough time to tell everyone to brace themselves so I could goose it and get the nose up in the air. The dad and his 2 kids were in the bow (maybe 240 lbs max), the kids did have their life jackets on thankfully. Well, we went up and then down, the nose disappeared, and this happened 3 times before it was all over. The dad was sitting on my windshield holding the tower and his 4 year old daughter, his 7 year old son was over by me in basically the same position as his dad. As the boat came to a rest we had at least 15 inches of water everywhere and that freaked this kids out even more, it was a bad situation.

At this point I would say 100% of this was my fault, I should have seen the boat sooner and realized that the bow was riding lower than usual. However, as I pulled the middle door in the floor to check how the bilge was keeping up I noticed that the mid ship ballast was completely full. I thought to myself "I don't remember filling that, we're not good enough boarders to even need that, I didn't fill that" so I pumped it out. 15 minutes later it was full again!!! Obviously enough, I was carrying alot of extra weight unknowingly which didn't help our situation with the nose dives. The water is somehow pushing past the pump and filling on it's own.

Everyone was shaken up but we were able to pull into another cove and gather ourselves. To be quite honest it scared the hell out of me too and then I felt bad for the scared look on those kids' faces.

Needless to say, but just a friendly reminder: empty your ballast before heading to deep, heavy traffic water!!!

Oh but that's not it, in the midst of the choas I lost my favorite jacket, probably just floated away, we drifted into a lake marker pole while getting set up to wake board, no apparent damage just startled us again for a second, and I dropped my wakeboard on my foot, edge first of course!! Needless to say I was happy to just unhook the trailer from the truck at the end of the day and limp into my house!!

My new posts always end with a question so here it is, do I just need to replace this pump? Are you supposed to be able to turn the fittings at the tank? Both the fill and drain have 90 degree elbows and can easily swivel them side to side. Do I need to check anything in the engine compartment (starter, alternator, etc.) due to the water getting that high. I never checked how high it actually got in there but like I said, 15 inches slowly drained down through the floor.

I think I'll take this weekend off and get some things straightened tightened up, TIA for any advice.

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Sorry to hear of the bad day, but just remember that it could have been a lot worse.

As far as the pump goes, it's pretty normal to have that happen. Aerator pumps will allow water to get past them, it's just something that you have to live with since it's the nature of the beast. I usually just shut the valve on the fill pumps for both the center & front tanks once they were full or empty to keep them that way. But yeah, auto-filling/draining is very normal.

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Sorry to hear of the bad day, but just remember that it could have been a lot worse.

As far as the pump goes, it's pretty normal to have that happen. Aerator pumps will allow water to get past them, it's just something that you have to live with since it's the nature of the beast. I usually just shut the valve on the fill pumps for both the center & front tanks once they were full or empty to keep them that way. But yeah, auto-filling/draining is very normal.

I have never noticed that with the rear tanks..??

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It depends on the boat, but most people just have difficulties with the front tank(s) auto-filling/draining. I can think of a couple of people that have had that problem with the rear tanks, but it's more hit & miss. I think that it has to do with the angle of the hull to the water passing over that spot as well as how well the loops in the lines are run, if that makes sense.

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While I don't know where they come from, my rears have one way valves on them.

Previous owner said they were too hard to get to for bilge and bow tank.

I found my bilge tank full the other day too unknowingly, but I think that was due to new operator.

We drove five hours at 25-27 mph in some real rough chop at times and it never got anymore in it.

I think I filled it by accident.

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Sorry to hear of the bad day, but just remember that it could have been a lot worse.

As far as the pump goes, it's pretty normal to have that happen. Aerator pumps will allow water to get past them, it's just something that you have to live with since it's the nature of the beast. I usually just shut the valve on the fill pumps for both the center & front tanks once they were full or empty to keep them that way. But yeah, auto-filling/draining is very normal.

I have never noticed that with the rear tanks..??

It usually only happens with the center tank.

Sorry about the bad day. I took a big one over the bow a few years ago when I had 3 or 4 big high school guys up front. The amount of water that comes in is impressive and a little panic inducing. When that happened we had to sit for about 10 or 15 minutes to let the bilge empty out.

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Wow, scary stuff. Live & learn. While you need to protect yourself, the captain of that barge is an SOB for putting you in a bad situation.

Last I summer I noticed my center tank was auto filling. So this winter I removed the pump & the 90 degree fitting, then reinstalled it all. The fitting wasn't even hand tight. Now it doesn't auto fill any more.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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I'm sorry to hear about your bad day.

I wouldn't say you were at fault, at least not 100%. The other boat had no business going by you that close throwing a wake like that. That was very irresponsible of the captain of that boat.

Regarding the ballast, my '05 vRide did the same thing. I ended up putting a ball valve in place to solution that. The water somehow gets past the fill pump and creates a siphon that fills up the center ballast. I don't believe replacing the pump is going to help that situation.

I would think the starter/solonoid are the biggest risk right now, but I'm not sure what you'd do about it. I'm sure someone else will chime in with some advice.

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If it's an aerator pump (which the Rule is), it will more than likely have that problem. You have to get an impeller pump to actually act as a stopper. You should have a ball valve underneath the pump, just reach down & close it to keep that from happening.

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While I agree with SRUD, I also think that you were right in taking responsibility for not seeing the other boat and and reacting to his poor piloting skills sooner. You had a couple things working against you with all the weight in the bow and being unaware of the ballast issue. Thankful you did not capsize or become disabled.

Sucks for the kids, trauma like that can really scare the little ones. In the end, tough lesson learned. I wouldn't park the boat though. Live and learn.

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While I agree with SRUD, I also think that you were right in taking responsibility for not seeing the other boat and and reacting to his poor piloting skills sooner. You had a couple things working against you with all the weight in the bow and being unaware of the ballast issue. Thankful you did not capsize or become disabled.

Sucks for the kids, trauma like that can really scare the little ones. In the end, tough lesson learned. I wouldn't park the boat though. Live and learn.

There was a couple seconds there where I thought we were going down, the nose was so low with the after the final rush of water that if I would have given it any gas I would have plowed even more water in. Get to high ground and hang on was our approach. That was just the first time I'd realized the cneter ballast fills on its own. I've never had to drain it before without first filling it. I guess it was just a "wrong place, wrong time" situation.

Hey I might have a used ballast pump to sell if anyone's interested, apparently I don't need it!!

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The other boat is ultimately responsible for his wake as well! Just glad all are unharmed, at least physically...

find the fill hose for the tank and replace the hose with a longer one to add a loop as high as possible in the gunwale or under the dash to try to avoid auto fill.

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The other boat is ultimately responsible for his wake as well! Just glad all are unharmed, at least physically...

find the fill hose for the tank and replace the hose with a longer one to add a loop as high as possible in the gunwale or under the dash to try to avoid auto fill.

I was thinking about that, kind of like plumbing in a bow sac, I assume I want the top of the loop to be at least above the water level.

Oh yeah, I think I need to change my signature now too!!!

Edited by nemire12
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Yikes. Sorry about your day.

I have the same problem with my center tank only. I have messed with it but can't get it to quit by-passing. I just keep the valve below the pump off unless I want to use the tank.

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Man that is no good for sure.

Alot of talk about the tank filling, i have never had this happen on it own but have heard of it. With the amount of water you say came onboard the tank being empty would not have made much of a diff. We fill ours when riding across the lake for a better ride.

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How big of a wake did the 40ft. boat put out? Was it a lot bigger then a roller from a loaded surf boat? Was there anyway to avoid crossing it's wake (turn the boat the other direction)? The biggest wakes on the waterways around here come from our boat or another one that is surfing, so I just can't imagine the size of wake that make your bow go under 3 times and put 15" of water in the boat. I would have been preparing to grab the car keys and jump overboard!

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How big of a wake did the 40ft. boat put out? Was it a lot bigger then a roller from a loaded surf boat? Was there anyway to avoid crossing it's wake (turn the boat the other direction)? The biggest wakes on the waterways around here come from our boat or another one that is surfing, so I just can't imagine the size of wake that make your bow go under 3 times and put 15" of water in the boat. I would have been preparing to grab the car keys and jump overboard!

Well I couldn't get to my camera in time but I would say from the valley to the peak was 4-5 feet on the first one and then probably about 3 feet on the second and 2-3 feet on the last one. The water was up on the seats, it sucked bad!!!

I suppose I could have turned away from them but my first instict was to look behind where the wake was coming from and then heads towards it at a 45 rather than turning my head the other way to make sure I was clear and then turning away from it. I didn't have much time. I can't compare wake sizes but I will assure you that you could (if you wanted to) go ropeless behind a 40 foot cruiser that's not on plane!!!

Edited by nemire12
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I was pretty depressed/discouraged yesterday and still a little today, so I figured I would vent here.

Yesterday we (my wife, my son, another couple and their 2 young kids) went out on the lake for the afternoon. We had a good time boarding and stuff for an hour or so in a cove just around the corner from the ramp. We decided to travel the main channel up to a restaurant for lunch. As we were cruising along (12-15 mph) a large ocean cruiser (at least 40') goes by about 30 feet from us on port side kicking up a huge wake. I had just enough time to turn 45 degrees into it but not enough time to tell everyone to brace themselves so I could goose it and get the nose up in the air. The dad and his 2 kids were in the bow (maybe 240 lbs max), the kids did have their life jackets on thankfully. Well, we went up and then down, the nose disappeared, and this happened 3 times before it was all over. The dad was sitting on my windshield holding the tower and his 4 year old daughter, his 7 year old son was over by me in basically the same position as his dad. As the boat came to a rest we had at least 15 inches of water everywhere and that freaked this kids out even more, it was a bad situation.

At this point I would say 100% of this was my fault, I should have seen the boat sooner and realized that the bow was riding lower than usual. However, as I pulled the middle door in the floor to check how the bilge was keeping up I noticed that the mid ship ballast was completely full. I thought to myself "I don't remember filling that, we're not good enough boarders to even need that, I didn't fill that" so I pumped it out. 15 minutes later it was full again!!! Obviously enough, I was carrying alot of extra weight unknowingly which didn't help our situation with the nose dives. The water is somehow pushing past the pump and filling on it's own.

Everyone was shaken up but we were able to pull into another cove and gather ourselves. To be quite honest it scared the hell out of me too and then I felt bad for the scared look on those kids' faces.

Needless to say, but just a friendly reminder: empty your ballast before heading to deep, heavy traffic water!!!

Oh but that's not it, in the midst of the choas I lost my favorite jacket, probably just floated away, we drifted into a lake marker pole while getting set up to wake board, no apparent damage just startled us again for a second, and I dropped my wakeboard on my foot, edge first of course!! Needless to say I was happy to just unhook the trailer from the truck at the end of the day and limp into my house!!

My new posts always end with a question so here it is, do I just need to replace this pump? Are you supposed to be able to turn the fittings at the tank? Both the fill and drain have 90 degree elbows and can easily swivel them side to side. Do I need to check anything in the engine compartment (starter, alternator, etc.) due to the water getting that high. I never checked how high it actually got in there but like I said, 15 inches slowly drained down through the floor.

I think I'll take this weekend off and get some things straightened tightened up, TIA for any advice.

Sorry to hear about your bad day, don’t blame yourself too much. When it comes right down to it, the jerko wally got your crewmates all wet and rattled, not you. Try to shake it and just drive even more defensively, looking out for the other guy is a nuisance, but all too necessary to keep everyone from having close calls turn into bad days. Good luck getting everything back to normal.

With all the talk about ballast pumps and flow issues, isn’t there a 12 volt solenoid valve available that blocks both directions (not just pressure from one side) for just such an application as this?

Seems like this would be common, when ever the pump is turned on (for either direction of flow) the solenoid valve would open while pumping then shut all flow off in an idle state. Dontknow.gif

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How big of a wake did the 40ft. boat put out? Was it a lot bigger then a roller from a loaded surf boat? Was there anyway to avoid crossing it's wake (turn the boat the other direction)? The biggest wakes on the waterways around here come from our boat or another one that is surfing, so I just can't imagine the size of wake that make your bow go under 3 times and put 15" of water in the boat. I would have been preparing to grab the car keys and jump overboard!

Well I couldn't get to my camera in time but I would say from the valley to the peak was 4-5 feet on the first one and then probably about 3 feet on the second and 2-3 feet on the last one. The water was up on the seats, it sucked bad!!!

Well maybe next time you will be more prepared Tease2.gif

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no reason to be pissed, S-#% happens, live and learn as someone above said. Dry the boat out and lube all your metal that got soaked with WD40 and go to the lake!! Surfing.gif

Edited by txwakejunkie
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That sounds scary, I have dunked the bow of my boat but not not like that.

I have not had my middle tank auto fill, but did have to install ball valves to stop my ballast from siphoning out.

Don't be so hard on yourself it is hard to judge rollers...at least the first time.

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Well sailing lake Heron some time ago we were near the shipping lanes so we would look back now and then to check for oncoming traffic. I remember seeing a ship coming so thinking we had some time we held course. Awhile later I looked back to see the ship MUCH MUCH closer than planed. It turned out to be a Nave destroyer running my guess 35 knots or more the bow wake was covering the numbers on the hull and I looked back and thought it was pulling something. Nope its the wake it had to be 8 feet hi. WOW!!!!!! What a site I have never seen a wake like that.

No problems just big rollers when it got to our boat but I am thinking ya might have been able to drop the rope and surf that one. Tease.gif

Edited by Sixball
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Yup, had that happen as soon as I finished my ballast install. I added one of these:

12V 1" Solenoid Valve

to my ski locker to prevent that. As a matter of fact. I don't even need the fill pump on that ski locker if I'm sitting at rest. Though filling while on plane requires a pump.

Ski Locker Valves and Pumps

Sorry to hear about the rollers. Happened to me to a lesser extent this weekend. I did manage to turn around, drop my jaw, turn on the engine, yell at folks to hang on, and get turned into the wave. I just didn't get enough bow rise. :( First hit was okay second one was broken, but 80% of it still showered us all and we got a good 6" in the boat. Revenge was sweet because we just surfed by them later and I notice they weren't paying attention. They got wet. Whistling.gif

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